Mount Kinabalu has always been in my bucket list after I have climbed Mount Rinjani at Lombok, Indonesia.

Initially I joined SGTrek to climb with an International group of about 20 pax scheduled on 9 March 2024. However, I caught the Influenza B virus few days before and was unfit to travel. Therefore, mine became a solo climb rescheduled to 25 April 2024. SGTrek Expeditions & Adventures partnered with Amazing Borneo and made all the necessary arrangements for me and provided me with all the information and comfort throughout my climb. My mountain guide was Andrew Bungin and he is a truly helpful and friendly guide whom I can talk to, chat with and most important, trust in him. He guided me alot and showed me which better path to take etc during the steeper and trickier sections.

Honestly, I really enjoyed the climb and I feel that training is very important. You should train preferably 2 to 3 months ahead to build your endurance, muscle strength, climbing techniques, breathing techniques. Personally I climbed up nearby apartment stairs (25 floors X 5 or 6 rounds = 125/150 floors) alternate days on weekdays, and one of the weekend morning I train in the nature, at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve's Dairy Farm trail (3 loops / 3 to 4 hours) as I live in Singapore and there are no high mountains here. Sometimes I will carry up to 7kg weight during the workouts but not all the time. I do feel lazy and skipped at times.

Day 1 of the climb was endless stairs but there are a total of 6 rest huts (excluding the entrance Timpohon hut). As I was climbing solo, my guide was just for me alone so he also carried my bag as the porter. 10kg was 140RM. Day 1 is estimated to take 4 to 6 hours and mostly just stairs upwards. To prevent your body from becoming too cool and needing energy to warm up again, try to rest just 2 to 3 minutes at each hut. You will be carrying up a packed lunch which you can eat at Layang Layang Rest Hut no. 5. Total day 1 climb is 6km to reach Panalaban, and I stayed at Laban Rata dorms. Laban Rata is also the restaurant that all climbers eat their buffet dinner at. Weather was great during my day 1 climb, so I reached Panalaban at 1.45pm and even went to post a post card at the highest post office in Malaysia, located at Pendant Hut. They sell plain hot water at Laban Rata for 3RM and in the afternoon, I chillaxed with a sachet of milo... a hot drink is definitely very rewarding up there!

I couldn't sleep much the night.. and only slept from 10pm to 12am. Woke up and it was raining lightly. Fortunately, after "breakfast" at 1.30am, the rain stopped and I proceeded for the summit attack around 2.35am with my guide. There will be a long line of climbers going up the stairs from 6 to 7km before Sayat Sayat Checkpoint. One tip is to try to overtake some climbers during this time if you are able to, so you are not stuck in the jam. But do breathe deeply and rest if you need to... go at your comfortable pace. I reached Sayat Sayat at 3.45am, but had to go to the toilet due to bad tummyache (cold + nervous + eaten too much probably). The toilet at Sayat Sayat is the highest toilet in Malaysia, do go before continuing to the summit as that's the last toilet available. I brought energy gels and protein bar and water of cos, but did not eat the bars as I'm not hungry. Just wanted to enjoy the scenery!

After endless stretches of rock face with two or three sections of rope climbing, I reached the final push to the summit after the 8.5km mark. Then with the help and guidance from my guide, we reached the summit at 5.48am. I felt so happy and fulfilled then, but I also know that this is only half the journey and the other half is to descend the mountain safely to my awaiting loved ones! The views were truly indescribable and amazing! Sea of clouds and blue skies after sunrise... strong winds, cooling weather and then I took a few pics at the summit before heading to lower areas to chill and relax.

Long story short, I returned to Laban Rata at 8.45am and enjoyed another round of buffet breakfast before packing up my stuff, got changed and then started the descending journey from Laban Rata to Timpohon Gate. Left Laban Rata at 10 plus am and reached Timpohon Gate at 2.30pm. Took pics and relaxed along the way. The ground was wet but it was not raining so I felt that I was truly lucky to avoid climbing/descending in downpours etc. I did not even use my new poncho.

Went for buffet lunch at Liwagu Restaurant and then at 3.30pm, Amazing Borneo van picked me up and headed to Kinabalu Park to get my certificate and my luggage. I also bought a medal for 30RM. For those who summit successfully, you can buy the medal and your certificate will also be the coloured version instead of black and white if you did not manage to summit. Finally, the van sent me to Kinabalu City and I checked in the Promenade Hotel.

All the arrangments were seamless.. so if you are a Singaporean or residing in SG and is keen to climb Mount Kinabalu, do check out SGTrek Pte Ltd. They also organise trips to other mountains and so far I have been to many trips with them since 2018. Looking forward to more.